Speed Racer
by JimKirk1
Summary: Basically the novelization of the movie. When Speed uncovers a massive network that fixes all races in the World Racing League, he knows he must do something. And the only think he knows he can do well is racing. So expect lots of racing action.


Speed Racer

Chapter 1

A.N: Fun fact, this is really more of a novelization of the actual movie, which I loved. Did you guys see it? Hope you guys liked this version of the movie!

* * *

Speed walked out from school, to see that Rex was waiting for him. He smiled, and ran across the street, over to the Mach 5, and, with almost uncanny speed, opened the door, set his backpack in the middle, sat down, closed the door, and buckled himself up. Rex looked at him in amusement.

"I take it you're ready to go," he said. Speed nodded agreement. Rex got into the car, and started the drive home.

* * *

"How was school?" Rex asked. Speed simply shrugged.

"Fine," he replied curtly. "Are you going to the track today? Mom said you were. You don't have to drop me off. I could go with you," Speed shot off the sentences in rapid succession. Rex looked at him in disbelief.

"No way," he said, and shook his head to emphasize his opinion. Speed groaned.

"Oh, come on. Take me with you, come on. _Please_."

"I can't, Speed," Rex said. He continued. "Pops would kill me."

"He doesn't have to know," Speed said, drawing an interested look from Rex. "I won't tell him. Nobody would know. Come on, please, Rex. Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please," Speed begged, causing Rex to sigh.

"Are you wearing the socks?" Rex asked, to which Speed lifted up his leg, braced it against the dashboard, and lifted up his pant leg, showing that he was wearing red socks. Rex sighed again. _This should be interesting,_ Rex thought.

"Okay. But if you roll us again, this'll be the last time. Do we have a deal?" Rex said, extending his hand to Speed.

"Deal," Speed said, taking Rex's hand.

* * *

All of this flashed through Speed's mind as he mentally recalled that day, almost 11 years ago. He got up, and put on his jacket. He picked up the picture of Rex in his locker. Thinking for a moment, he picked it up, put it in his pocket, and grabbed his helmet, closing the locker door with it, and opening another memory...

* * *

"OH YEAH!" Speed said, drifting down the track, seated in his brother's lap in the Mach 4. Sliding out of one turn, he twitched the steering wheel, effortlessly turning the car into another drift.

"Come on! Yee-ha!" Speed yelled again as the car drifted hard coming out of another turn. Rex smiled.

"You hear that shimmy?" he asked, as the car's T180 tire mounts shifted, and the car shook slightly. Speed nodded consent.

"That's your hind legs trying to outrun your front," Rex explained.

"What do I do?" Speed asked.

"Stop steering and start driving," Rex said, as he pressed down harder on the gas pedal, pushing the car to go faster as they went into a hard turn, which Speed drifted expertly.

"This ain't no dead piece of metal," Rex said, and the car went into a straightaway. "A car's a living, breathing thing, and she's alive," he said, as the car pulled into the final corners before the big jump.

"You can feel it talking to you, telling you what she wants, what she needs," Rex continued, as Speed pulled the car into a turn, executing a full 360 degree spin on the all-steel track.

"All you gotta do is listen. Just close your eyes, and listen," he finished as the car entered another straightaway, just having left the Dog Bowls. Speed closed his eyes.

"You know, they said that Ben Burns drove the final lap of the Vanderbilt Cup with his eyes closed," Rex said. Speed opened his eyes, and replied,

"No way!" he said. Rex smirked.

"Maybe you just can't hear it then. Maybe you ought to start hitting those books."

Speed shook his head, and replied,

"No, I hear it!" which brought on a smile from Rex.

"Is that so, Mr. Burns? Alright. Tell me when to punch it for the jump," Rex said, as they left the last turn, and into the ramp into the 90-meter jump.

"Now?" Rex asked Speed. Speed shook his head.

"Now?" Rex asked, prepared to do it anyways, when Speed yelled,

"NOW!" Rex smiled, and slammed on the gas pedal, pushing the car to ever greater speeds, and off the ramp...

* * *

…And was overtaken by the Mach 6, Speed having left his memory and entered the real world again. He landed on the other side, dozens of cars following him. He jerked the steering wheel hard, sending the car into a hard drift, which catapulted him through the turn and into the straightaway, a look of serious determination on his face.

The reporters were watching his every move, each reporting in their language. English, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Russian. All had come to see the race at Thunderhead, but most of all, to see Speed Racer try his hand at the track.

Speed's moment of concentration was broken when Sparky, his friend and expert mechanic, talked to him through his helmet's headset.

"Heads up, Speed, 7 o'clock. Snake's driving at the head of the pack," Sparky said, referring to Snake Oiler. Speed looked down at his rearview screen, and saw that Sparky was right, and that Snake Oiler was indeed closing in on him.

"I figure he'll slingshot after you the next turn," Sparky speculated. Speed flipped up the rocker switch cover, switched on the free wheel movement switch, and replied,

"I'm ready, " Speed said, as Sparky predicted, Snake sling shotted out of the turn, aiming for Speed. Speed smirked, and hit the brake and clutch, slowing down, and activated his jumping jacks.

The compressed nitrogen-oxygen mix, combined with the standard springs and magnetic repulsion system, launched the Mach 6 into the air, and over the head of Snake Oiler. Snake Oiler looked at the Mach 6 in shock, and subsequently lost control, his car careening into the side of the next turn. Speed was prepared for this, and jerked the steering wheel hard, pulling his car into a spin, cleanly missing the wildly careening car. He pulled out of his spin just as Snake's car started to break apart, throwing fragments everywhere and sending them into the following cars, wrecking several behind him.

Sparky opened up another screen on his monitor. Looking closely, he frowned.

"Well, careful, the Dog Bowls are coming up. You may want to ease up a little," he said. Speed simply smiled.

"Not this time, Sparky," Speed said, as he upshifted, and gave the car more gas. Sparky let out a low, quiet whistle as Speed drifted through the Dog Bowls, sending out a hail of sparks on every bulge. Speed switched sides, changed gears, and shoved the pedal down, giving it more speed. The crowd went wild, thrilled at his racing prowess. Sparky stopped his stopwatch. His eyes went wide. He looked out onto the track, his eye on Speed.

"Holy canoly, Speed. Do you know who you're racing?" he said to Speed through his helmet. Speed smiled wanly, and replied,

"Yeah," he said, as he and his brother's ghost went off the ramp...

* * *

…And back into Speed's memory, back another time. Rex blasted down the track, leaving the other cars far behind him. Rex looked back, saw there weren't any cars, and upshifted, putting on even more speed, drifting around the bend at nearly absurd speeds, the cars several seconds behind.

"Rex is going to win this, ain't he, Pops?" Speed asked his dad, sitting in the stands, excitedly watching Rex's every move. "No one's going to catch him. He's going to win it. He's going to set the course record. Nobody's going to stop him." Pops interrupted him.

"Quiet, Speed, there's still a lot of race to go," Pops said, only for Speed to shake his head.

"No way. It's over. My brother's the best racer in the world. Everybody else is running for second." Speed looked up as Rex and the other racers blasted down the track right above them, yelling along with the crowd, as Rex put on still more distance.

A man walked up to one of the crewmen manning the station overlooking the track. Grabbing him and shaking him violently, he yelled at him,

"I thought you could _take him out!_ " he yelled. The crewman raised his hands in the standard, _It's-not-my-fault_ gesture.

"We're trying, sir, we're trying, but he's… just too fast!" he said. The man's face contorted in extreme anger, and, with violent rage, he threw him aside.

Rex flew down the track, over the corkscrew, and spun into the next turn...

* * *

…And Speed finished the turn, hot on the tail of his brother's ghost. The reporters were eating this up.

"It's unbelievable, folks! No one has seen moves like this since a remarkable 8, 9 years ago!" One reporter said.

"There's no doubt in my mind, he's gunning for the record," another said.

"He is not alone," yet another reporter said. "He is chasing someone. He is chasing the ghost of Rex Racer!"

Speed smirked as he slid into the next straightaway, and over the hilltop, with the cars following, albeit several seconds afterwards.

Pops watched Speed's run through his binoculars, and, as he passed by, he looked down as he stopped his stopwatch, with Spritle doing the exact same. He looked at the time in shock.

"Jeebers! He could do it, Pops! He could really do it!" Spritle said excitedly, as the cars roared by, deafening most of the crowd, and Pops looked up to see Speed's time on the scoreboard.

"What if he doesn't?" Spritle asked, his voice full of doubt. "What if he doesn't, Pops?" to which Pops gave an angry grunt.

Spritle gently shook his head. "I don't know if I can watch this," he said, passing his binoculars to his pet chimpanzee, Chim-Chim, who immediately brought them up to his eyes to watch the spectacle.

As the cars whooshed by again, the crowd cheered as Speed exited the corkscrew with a spin and a twist, effortlessly driving into the turn, the crowd watching on, with one in particular...

* * *

…Speed drove around the playground area in his little toy car, as Trixie and several others looked on. The lead blonde smirked.

"There's that Speed Racer," she said, her voice full of disdain. "My daddy told me that _his_ daddy used to work for Moshita motorworks. But he quit! My daddy told me that it was a _completely_ crazy thing to do. He says the whole family's crazy."

"Speed's not crazy," Trixie replied. That brought on another smirk from the lead blonde.

"No, he's just dumb. Probably the dumbest in the class. Ms. Woodstrom had me alphabetize the IRB pens, and you wouldn't believe retard did-Oomph!" she said, before Trixie decked her in the face. The blonde fell back into the group's hands, and the commotion grabbed the attention of Speed.

Looking up, he noticed Trixie for the first time, and almost immediately fell in love. Trixie looked back, and smiled a little, and Speed's heart apparently nearly melted. Trixie's smiled quickly turned into that of surprise. Gesturing in front of Speed, she yelled,

"Speed!" which made Speed look where he was going, and his face turned into that of terror, as he drove straight into a flower bed of roses.

Trixie emerged from the bed of flowers, and saw Speed lying on the ground, not moving. Running towards him, she yelled,

"Speed!" and stopped, as she stood over Speed.

Speed opened his eyes, and saw that Trixie was there. Pulling a look of confusion, he asked her,

"Who are you?"

Trixie smiled, and replied,

"I'm Trixie. I'm in your class." Speed looked back up at the sky.

"Oh, yeah. Hey," Speed said, apparently having already made a full recovery, "Want to see my car collection?" Trixie's face lit up.

"I'd love to!"

* * *

Speed slowed a bit as he drove up his driveway, Trixie riding in the back. Entering the garage, he greeted Rex and Pops.

"Hey, Rex, hey Pops," Speed said, and was greeted in return.

"Hey, Speedy," Rex said, before getting back to work on the convergenator.

"Who's your friend?" Pops asked, as Speed and Trixie got out of the car.

"Her name is Trixie. She's in my class," Speed replied.

"Hi," Trixie said.

Pops nodded. "Pleasure to meet you, young lady."

"Hey, Pops. A guy told us to give this to you," Speed said. 'Says he was a big fan." Pops' face lit up with surprise.

"Oh, a fan, is it?" Pops said, taking the package. Rex glanced at it, then went back to work. "Well, it's not everyday we get people with such good tastes around here," Pops said, and Speed and Trixie nodded agreement. Pops looked outside, then back at Speed.

"Where is he?" Pops asked.

"He was in a hurry, driving a '68 Fenderson," Speed said, which brought Rex up short. "Sweet set of wheels," Speed finished. Rex grabbed the package.

"Let me see that," he said. Putting his ear to it, he heard a faint ticking. Galvanized by fear, he ran over, stuck the package in Speed's car's driver's seat, grabbed a broom and broke it, and stuck one end of the broom against the gas pedal. Flicking the toy into reverse, it backed out of the garage, with the whole group looking on, as the toy exploded in a brilliant display of firework-like sparks.

"Cool beans," Trixie said, as the toy's remains cooled down, and the memory ended...

* * *

Trixie smiled at the memory, and put her binoculars back up to her face to watch the remainder of the race, as Speed roared by, going back up into the corkscrew, as the reporters continued on in their reports.

* * *

"No one from these parts will forget the tragic story of Rex Racer," one of the reporters explained.

" **レースの歴史の中で最大の論争の一つ** " the Japanese reporter said, as Speed went back into the Dog Bowls, with Rex's ghost almost doing exactly what Speed was doing.

"He nearly ruined racing," another reporter said, as Speed drifted around the Dog Bowls.

"One of the bravest men to ever drive a racecar," another said, as Speed left the final Dog Bowl, and Rex did the same, as another memory resurfaced, and Speed was transported back in time...

* * *

"Can I come with you, Rex?" Speed asked. Rex looked at Speed, and shook his head.

"Not this time, Speedy," Rex said, as he packed another pair of clothes into his pack. Speed looked on helplessly.

"When are you coming back?" Speed asked Rex. Rex shrugged slowly.

"I don't know," Rex replied. He looked at his pack, sighed, then made up his mind.

"Here's something I want you to have," Rex said, as he tossed Speed the keys to the Mach 5. Speed looked down at them in disbelief.

"But the Mach 5's your car!" Speed said. Rex shook his head.

"Not anymore," he said. Zipping up his pack, he walked over to Speed, and got down on his knees.

"Look, Speed," Rex said. "One day, people might say things about me. And no matter what they say, I just…I hope that you never believe them," Rex said. Speed looked at him.

"I won't," he said. Rex smirked. "Come here," Rex said, and Speed didn't hesitate to hug Rex. Pulling away from Speed, an expression of sadness on his face, he went through the door and left.

* * *

Pops was in the living room, drinking as Rex tried to silently make his way to the door. He didn't.

"So you're quitting?" Pops said to Rex. Rex stopped. Half-turning his head towards Pops, he curtly replied,

"I have to," to which Pops got up, and turned to face Rex.

"No. This is a choice. You're selling out," Pops said, causing Rex to face him. "Turning your back on everything we've built here." Rex turned away again.

"I'm done driving for you, Pops," Rex said, as he started walking towards the door again. Pops' next comment stopped him

"Don't you turn your back on me," Pops said. Rex stopped.

"You can't tell me what to do. It's my life to live," Rex replied. He moved to open the door.

"You walk out that door, now you better not ever come back," Pops said, which stopped Rex again. Rex stood there a moment, then made his choice and opened the door, walking briskly out the door into the rain.

* * *

Pops started a moment, then realized that that was simply a memory, then went back to watching the race. Speed drifted through the corner, as he and Moms Racer tried to fend off the memories.

* * *

Speed slid around the corner, Rex's time just in front, almost mocking him. Speed shook his head, then upshifted again, pouring on more speed, slowly gaining on Rex's ghost. Going into another turn, he slammed down on the gas pedal, dragging the Mach 6 farther, to line up with the ghost of the Mach 4, Rex's car. They went into the final turn, and Speed pushed the pedal down as far as he could, then realized that he still had another gear to go. They left the turn, and into the final straightaway, headed straight for the finish line.

"He's coming hard!" a reporter yelled.

Another reporter stood up. " _It's going to be close!_ " he said, as Speed and Rex blasted down the straight.

Speed looked over at Rex's ghost. They were almost at the finish, with only a few seconds left. _Sorry, Pops,_ Speed thought. _Not this time._ Speed let up on the pedal he had been mashing for the last 9 minutes, and Rex's ghost pulled away, and across the finish line. The crowd went wild. Speed smiled giddily, while the reporters yelled into their microphones.

"Unbelievable! Split second difference! The record still stands!" Speed looked up at the scoreboard.

Rex Racer 9:18:65

Speed Racer 9:19:26

* * *

Pops looked at the times, then smiled and hugged Moms.

Speed slowed down a bit, seeing his brother's ghost already stopped. Smiling, he pulled the brake, and slid to a stop, right where his brother did.

Spritle called to his parents.

"Come on! Let's go to Victory Lane!"

* * *

" _Folks, I knew Rex Racer. And if he's up there, somewhere, watching this race, you can bet your ass he's damn proud of his little brother,"_ the reporter said on the after-race broadcast. The lady walked up and sat next to the man sitting down, watching the race.

"He's going to be very good," she said. The man shook his head.

"No, he's going to be the best," Racer X said, in a quiet, deliberate voice. "If they don't destroy him first."


End file.
